A Trip to Bath with Ordoo*

Hello guys! 

Any of you that have been keeping up to date with my Twitter or Instagram accounts lately will know that I've officially caught the travel bug. I love going to new places and seeing new things, and my aim of visiting 5 countries this year is actually going pretty well (so far on 3). However that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy visiting places within the U.K as well, and one of my all time favourite places in this country in Bath. 

I went a few years ago for a long weekend with my best friend, and we're planning a return visit for some time this summer. Between the beautiful buildings, the pale stone streets and the stunning Roman baths, there is so much to see and do. One of our favourites was the fashion museum. You can get a double ticket for that and the Roman baths which means you get a saving over individual tickets - from what I can remember it's around £20 but that might have changed by now. 

My other favourite part of visiting Bath is the food. There are beautiful restaurants set in period buildings and coffee shops over looking the green parks and gardens. On a sunny day there is nothing nicer than sitting outside in a city centre with a view of the river or the well kept gardens. It's that perfect mix of city and countryside. 

However as much as it doesn't feel like a busy city centre, it is, and that's where the topic of today's post comes in. Ordoo. Ordoo is a digital service that allows you to order and pay for your food/coffee/drinks in advance meaning you don't have to waste time queueing. I knew that Ordoo worked with many coffee shops and restaurants in London, however after looking further into their website, I've descovered that you can use the app for loads of places in Bath too (even my favourite Bath-Coffee-House) meaning I won't have to waste any of my visit queueing up to get my necessary coffee fix. 

It's such a brilliant idea and I can't wait to try it out when I visit. For those of you out there that's interested they are also linked to several places in Bristol too. You get a voucher code for your first order when you download the app, and you can also earn rewards points every time you use it. Check out the website HERE to see if any of your favourite places are on there. I also urge you to check them out on Twitter and Instagram too for the latest updates, and to see what other people are saying about them. 

@Ordoo_UK   - Twitter 

@ordoo_uk    - Instagram

Now all I need to do is get myself booked in to Bath spa and I'm all set for a perfect long weekend away! Let's just keep our fingers crossed for the weather. 

Let me know if you have used Ordoo before and if you love them as much as I do, and as always, thank you for popping by.

Love to you all x

Lime Crime

Hello!

Well, as of 5:30 today, I have officially finished work ready to start nine days off!! I can't wait to have some free time to get fully up to date on blog stuff - get photos taken and posts written up. You have no idea how happy I am right now

Today's post, however,  is a little mention of a brand that I have only just stumbled across - Lime Crime. I visited their website, and oh my! I was greeted to beautiful shimmery eyeshadows and metalic liquid lipsticks. For those of you who follow my Instagram, you will already have seen from my pictures how obsessed I am with glitter and metalics at the moment - I think they're perfect for this time of year- and before I knew it I was adding item after item to my shopping cart. They are an American company, but you can order online. The Lana matte liquid lipstick will most likely be a favorite of mine. I will swatch when I receive it so keep an eye on my Instagram/Twitter for that.

For those of you loving the liquid lipstick right now, check out the Heavy Metals section of the site, where there are 6 beautiful shades to choose from. Their website also has a section full of what they call Fan Pics, so you can see what the products look like on the people that use them. I think this is a brilliant idea as the draw back of shopping online is that you can't get a true idea of what the product itself will really look like on.

They also have one of the cutest blogs I have ever come across. Posts ranging from a throw back to butterfly hair clips (yes, I owned about 50), beautiful make up looks, and even a behind the scenes section about their brand. The blog, the packaging of the products, and the photos used on the blog are all amazing - exactly the kind of style I love, and I really urge all of you who haven't already to check them out here - Lime Crime Blog 

The website itself is here - Lime Crime

When you Google them, it even comes up as Makeup for Unicorns!

Thank you all for reading, and as usual all your comments are appreciated. I will swatch my purchases when they arrive.

Love to you all x

E.O.S - Some Autumn Essentials

Hello everyone!

Firstly, I just want to say how happy I am that Autumn has officially started and I can dig out all my lovely hats, scarves and jumpers while filling my house with candles and fairy lights! If you follow my twitter account you know how much I've been looking forward to this.

While the start of Autumn does bring fresh, crisp mornings and lovely cozy clothes, it does also bring with it dry skin and chapped lips. Between the cold air and the central heating, those of us who suffer from dry skin don't stand a chance. That is why I have already started stocking my handbag with soothing lip balms and nourishing hand creams.

Those of you in the beauty/blogging community are probably already very familiar with the brand E.O.S (Evolution of Smooth) for their little pods of lip balm in its super cute packaging - my personal favorite is the strawberry sorbet. But until recently, I had no idea they also sold a wide range of hand and body lotions. These come in a variety of different scents just like the lip balms, and I can't tell you how excited I am to try them. The hand lotions also come in really cute packaging - perfect for keeping in your handbag - and are also just as reasonably priced as the lip balms.

I'm hoping they are also as soothing and nourishing, and by the look of the ingredients, I won't be disappointed. I will do a little review post on the hand and body lotions once I've tried them, so keep an eye out! I'm sure they're going to become one of my Autumn/Winter favorites.

If you want to go and check out their full range you can find them here - Evolution of Smooth - and be sure to pop over and check out their Twitter for any new offers or updates (@eos)

Thank you for checking out my post guys, as usual I'd love for you all to say hello in the comments below. Oh, and happy start of Autumn!

Love to you all x

My Visit To Rush York*

Hello guys!

Now as many of you may have seen on my Twitter or Instagram, yesterday I paid a little visit to the beautiful Rush salon in York. When it comes to my beauty regime, it does tend to be my hair that takes a bit of a back seat, so I was really excited to get an email asking me to pop down to the salon for a cut and blow dry.

I'd heard nothing but good things about the Rush salons, and even so I was still pleasantly surprised. The lovely Jessica did an amazing job, and made sure my visit went smoothly from start to finish. She sat me down, asked me exactly what it was that I wanted, and went the extra mile to suggest products that she thought would benefit me personally. When I told her about my eczema and sensitive skin, she made sure that only soothing and hydrating products were used, and gave me some tips on what might help the condition of my hair going forward.

The entire team were brilliant, and even the building itself is beautiful. They are celebrating their 3 month anniversary soon, so we need to spread the love as much as possible for this newly opened salon and the team.

I didn't want a huge amount taken off the length of my hair as I've been trying to grow it, so Jessica just tidied up the ends and trimmed my layers, then cut my fringe to give it all a softer look round my face. It turned out even better than I'd hoped, and felt in such amazing condition afterwards that I couldn't stop playing with it! I will definitely be going back to visit next time I need my hair doing. 

I just want to say a big thank you to the whole team at Rush York, and I wish you all the success for the future. Make sure you go check them out on Instagram.. @rush_york  

Love to you all x

MUA Luxe Highlight Shimmer Stick

Hello guys!

Loads of you seemed to really like my MUA Luxe lip lacquer post that I did the other week, so today I thought i'd bring you another little gem from the MUA Luxe range. This beautiful highlight stick!

Now this little beauty is AMAZING! Bronzing and highlighting sticks seem to be everywhere at the moment, but I've never been tempted to try them before - I'm just way too attached to my shimmery powder highlighters - but when I saw this for the grand old price of £4 I just had to give it a go. 

I'm impressed. I thought it would be a thick, heavy consistency that would drag across the skin leaving a trail of thick glitter, but its really not. It's super lightweight, easy to blend, and leaves a smooth subtle shimmer on your skin. You can build it up for a more dramatic look (you can never have too much highlight!) or just swipe across the face for subtle sheen. 

It is a very golden tone, and I know some people prefer the pinky rose toned highlighters, but I urge you all to give this a chance as it leave such a beautiful glow. I always seem to be amazed buy the quality of MUA products, and this time is no different. My new go-to product! 

As usual, thank you all for popping by! Feel free to say hello in the comments, and follow/subscribe if you enjoyed my post! 

Love to you all x

#SkinLove

Hello everyone! 

Now this is going to be very different from the kind of thing I usually post, but it's something that I feel is very important and needs to be talked about. It's also something that is very personal to me and plays such a big part in my life; living with a skin disorder. 

You see a lot of posts online about body confidence. How you should feel good no matter what shape or size you are, or whether you have an illness or disability, and believe me I think this is super important. Every single person out there deserves to love themselves and feel good about the way they look, but what I'm trying to say is there isn't a lot out there (that I've seen anyway) about loving your body with a skin disorder. 

I've suffered with a lot of health problems and illnesses throughout my life, and I know that it can take its toll on you. You start to lose faith in your body and feel unmotivated about a lot of things, but when you have a condition that is so visible, it can also make you feel like you have to hide away.

I suffer with severe eczema over most of my body. It comes and goes, is unpredictable, and can also be extremely painful. The pain and irritation is hard to deal with in itself. I also feel like I live at the doctors, hospital and pharmacy (I've tried some experimental treatment too - unsuccessfully I might add) and there are days where no matter how well my makeup goes and no matter how exciting my plans are, I feel self conscious, unattractive and like I need to hide away. 

Behind all the carefully edited Instagram pictures, the Snapchat selfies and makeup look photos are a lot of people who are hiding the real way their skin looks. Eczema, Acne, Psoriasis and Dermatitis just to name a few, so many people like me have spent days wearing long sleeved tops in 30 degree heat to hide the rashes on their arms; have been too embarrassed to wear the pretty short dress because of the skin on their legs; have been too self conscious to take part in the group photo because today is a bad acne day. 

I know I'm rambling on, and for those of you still reading thank you for your dedication, I just feel like I've spent the last 25 years of my life hiding this part of me away from the eyes of strangers (and even the eyes of family and friends) and I don't want to anymore. It is a part of my identity and something that will be there for the rest of my life. I can either keep hiding, or I can embrace it and show those rashes, sores and blisters who's boss. 

Over the next few weeks I'm planing to start a blog series focusing on those of you out there with skin disorders - beauty products that don't irritate, make up appropriate for sensitive skin, ways to deal with the anxiety it causes and how we can start loving our skin, no matter what. If any of you are interested, please feel free to message me on twitter (@AmyBarden) or email me (faceitamy@gmail.com) and we can arrange collaborations and maybe even a twitter chat to raise awareness and spread the love :)  #skinlove

Thank you all for taking the time to read this, it is something very important to me and I'd love to hear from you! 

Love to you all x 

 

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer

Hello everyone!

Now this lip lacquer from the lovely MUA is something that has been sitting in my lip product collection for some time now, and I've been meaning to review it ever since I first tried it. I'm having a slight love affair with liquid lipsticks and lip lacquers at the moment, and out of all the ones I've tried (and believe me, I've tried a lot!!) this one definitely has to be the most pigmented.

Now I know this isn't the most summery colour out there, but with the weather we've been having lately, I'm already fully embracing autumn; and during autumn my go-to shade is a deep plum purple. With all the rain these last few days, I've automatically found myself reaching for this lip lacquer and that is what reminded me to write this post. 

The lasting power of this is next to none. It is like a thick liquid lipstick crossed with a lip stain, and it is actually hard to get off at the end of the day. With most lip products I find myself re-applying throughout the day, but with this, I actually struggle to remove it before bed even during my makeup removing/cleansing routine. I currently have a deep purple mark on the back of my hand from taking that swatch! 

This can be both a good and bad thing. I love my lip products to last, but at the same time I don't want to be scrubbing my lips on a night trying to remove my lip colour. However the colour itself is so beautiful that you could happily just leave it on to stain your lips forever. 

Overall, I love this lip lacquer. It has a beautiful thick consistency, is super pigmented and would probably last on your lips for the rest of you life! It only cost a couple of pounds too which is amazing. 

I'm so glad I finally got round to talking about this, and I can see it becoming a handbag staple for me over the coming months. 

Thank you all for reading, and please comment below with any other lip lacquers you think I would love. 

Love to you all x